“It was great that Mauricio and I arrived the same day; we were able to share first, very shocking, impressions and to go through the process of adapting to difficult working conditions together,” says Dr Catherine Houlihan, an infectious disease doctor from the United Kingdom deployed through WHO to help respond to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.

For Catherine this is her first deployment in an outbreak setting; “On my first day, I felt shocked by the enormity of the challenges. The day after, I started to adapt.”

31 July 2014 -- The new joint US$ 100 million response plan is part of an intensified international, regional and national campaign to bring the outbreak under control. “The scale of the Ebola outbreak, and the persistent threat it poses, requires WHO and Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to take the response to a new level, and this will require increased resources, in-country medical expertise, regional preparedness and coordination,” says WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan.

Freetown 30 July 2014 - His Excellency President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone visited Kenema and Kailahun on 28 and 29 July respectively to assess the level of the  ongoing Ebola outbreak in the two districts. This is the first visit of the President to the two epicentres of the outbreak since the onset of the disease in May this year. 

Abuja, 30th  July 2014 - Second leg of the quarterly Zonal meetings has been successfully conducted for the Northern and Southern zones between 21st-27th July, 2014 in Minna and Calabar respectively with the overriding objective of strengthening the monitoring and evaluation system in the IVE Unit of the WCO Nigeria, in response to the need for preparing the Country Office for Polio end-game and Legacy.

Entebbe, 29th July 2014:- The East Africa Community (EAC) secretariat with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) organized an inter country meeting that discussed alternative livelihoods to tobacco growing.  The Chairperson of the meeting, Miss Tabitha Masinjila who is also the Senior Assistant Director, Regional Integration, Ministry of East African Affairs, Kenya, said it was high-time, alternatives get sought for so as not to leave those farmers that may have stopped tobacco farming with no source of income.

Conakry, Guinea - 25 July, 2014 – In response to continuing reports of new cases and deaths attributable to Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Gomes Sambo, opened a Sub-regional Outbreak Coordination Centre in Conakry, Guinea.

"The Centre will allow monitoring in real-time of the activities to fight the epidemic, in collaboration with the national committees and the teams deployed on the ground," said Dr Sambo.

Conakry, 24 July 2014 – The Prime Minister of the Republic of Guinea, Mr. Mohamed Said Fofana today, launched the activities of the Sub-regional Ebola Outbreak Coordination Centre in Conakry. The WHO Regional Director, Dr Luis G.

Monrovia, 24 July 2014 – The President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, honoured today the World Health Organization (WHO) country office by conferring the Humane Order of African Redemption with the Grade of Knight Grand Commander, for its achievements and support during the past years in areas such as maternal and children mortality, disease prevention and control, and outbreaks, including the ongoing Ebola outbreak.

Addis Ababa.

Freetown 23 July 2014 - The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Director for Africa Dr Luis Sambo continued his visit to the three West African Countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. On the second leg of his visit the Regional Director arrived in Sierra Leone on Tuesday 22 July 2014 to get more insight, review current outbreak response and challenges, and explore the best ways to rapidly contain the EVD outbreak in West Africa.